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Alanson council approves FY27 budgets and one‑time sewer fee to cover repairs
Summary
The Village of Alanson on Feb. 9 approved FY27 General, Local Street, Major Street and Sewer Fund budgets and passed a sewer fee resolution imposing a one‑time $136 special fee (spread over six months) plus a $1.00 increase to offset Harbor Springs Sewer Authority repairs.
The Village of Alanson council approved its FY27 General Fund, Local Street Fund, Major Street Fund and Sewer Fund budgets and adopted a one‑time sewer special fee during its Feb. 9 regular meeting at Village Hall.
Clerk‑Treasurer Jennifer Murphy presented the updated budgets. After discussion, the council voted 5‑0 to adopt the General Fund budget. Trustee Gail Greenwell proposed a 3% wage increase for all paid positions and council members; that broader motion did not receive support and council approved the budget as presented. The Local Street and Major Street fund budgets were also approved by unanimous roll calls.
Murphy and Sewer Clerk Lucia Brzezinski told council that the Harbor Springs Sewer Authority has billed the village for multiple repairs and faces additional work, including replacing a generator and converting an alarm land line to cellular service. President Jamie Breithaupt said the village expects roughly $46,000 in upcoming sewer‑related bills and proposed a one‑time special fee of $136 per residential equivalent unit (REU) spread over six months, and an immediate $1.00 sewer fee increase to help cover longer‑term needs. Murphy reported the current sewer fee is $47.25 and Brzezinski said the village has 331 REUs.
Breithaupt said he expects reimbursement from FEMA for recent projects and estimated about $55,356 would be returned to the village; council did not rely solely on FEMA funds and approved Resolution #2 of 2026 to implement the special fee and include the sewer fee increase. The motion passed on a 5‑0 roll call (Trustees Mark Fairbairn, Gail Greenwell, Scott Latva, Wayne McPhall and President Jamie Breithaupt voting yes).
Trustee Mark Fairbairn questioned a $40,000 line item for DPW building repairs and said he would only support that spending if a septic system were to be installed; council recorded the concern during budget discussion but approved the budget as written. The council also approved moving forward with budgeted local street projects, though Street Commissioner Jason Losey said he had not yet received quotes for those jobs.
The council approved monthly bills and adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Next steps identified in the meeting: implementation of the sewer fee resolution and administrative processing of the adopted FY27 budgets.
